Paul Polman

Chief executive officer, Unilever PLC

Prior to joining Unilever, Paul was Chief Financial Officer at Nestlé S.A. from January 2006 and Executive Vice President and Zone Director for the Americas from February 2008.

Before joining Nestlé, Paul had a 26-year career with Procter & Gamble, culminating in his appointment as Group President Europe and Officer of The Procter & Gamble Company in 2001.

Paul began his career at Procter & Gamble in 1979, with finance assignments in Belgium, Holland and France leading to Associate Finance Director. He subsequently held a variety of senior positions within the company including Category Manager & Marketing Director France, Vice President & General Manager Iberia, Vice President and Managing Director UK and President Global Fabric Care.

Paul serves as President of the Kilimanjaro Blindtrust and Patron of the Leaders for Nature, an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) initiative.

Recognised by Investor Magazine as CFO of the Year 2007, Paul received the Carl Lindner award from the University of Cincinnati in 2006 and was the WSJ/CNBC European Business Leader of the Year 2003. He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, UK in 2000.

Paul earned a BBA/BA from the University of Groningen, Netherlands in 1997 and an MA in Economics and MBA in Finance/International Marketing from the University of Cincinnati, USA in 1979.

Married with three children, Paul’s main interests include marathon running, mountaineering and sailing.

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